Real Madrid take on the visitors Real Sociedad in the round 24 match of Spanish LaLiga. The match will be played on Saturday, February 14th at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu (Madrid).
Real Madrid are extremely ambitious and do not forgive slip-ups. Florentino Pérez confirmed this again at the end of spring by dismissing Ancelotti (once more!), despite all his achievements. Xabi Alonso also clearly failed to cope with the job and eventually left after a Super Cup defeat to Barcelona, while trailing them by four points in La Liga. Arbeloa, who took over, started “spectacularly” by crashing out of the cup against Albacete. That was followed by a 2–4 defeat to Benfica in the Champions League, a team they will face again in the playoffs next week. On the other hand, thanks to a stumble by Barcelona, Real Madrid managed to cut the gap in La Liga to the bare minimum. Valencia were also beaten convincingly in the last round, 2–0. Recent league results suggest that despite the chaos, the team are gradually regaining stability. Momentum in domestic competition has improved, and wins are starting to look more controlled and pragmatic.
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Real Sociedad are flourishing under the current head coach. Under their former player Alguacil, the Txuri-Urdin reached a long and impressive peak by their standards, winning the Copa del Rey, finishing fourth in La Liga, and reaching the Champions League playoffs. However, over the past two seasons both performances and results clearly declined. In the summer, San Sebastián decided to replace Imanol with Sergio Fernández, essentially a like-for-like internal appointment, but that move failed. By Christmas, Matarazzo was appointed. He previously worked in the Bundesliga and started in Spain so well that he was deservedly named La Liga Coach of the Month, highlighted by a win over Barcelona. Points were dropped only against Athletic Bilbao, ending in a draw. This week, however, they beat the same Athletic away from home 1–0 in the first leg of the cup semifinals. Overall form has been on a clear upward curve in recent weeks. Confidence is growing, especially in big matches, where Real Sociedad have shown composure and tactical discipline.
Los Blancos have won six of the last seven meetings, and even in the cup last spring, despite losing in regular time, it was they who progressed. Most expect a comfortable win for the Royal Club. However, the visitors are in excellent form, so backing them with a +1.5 goals handicap looks like the smarter option.
Prediction for the match: Real Sociedad to win with +1.5 handicap.
